Teen pregnancies have declined dramatically in the United States since their peak in the early 1990s, as have the births and abortions that result; in 2008, teen pregnancies reached their lowest level in nearly 40 years, according to “U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions, 2008: National Trends by Age, Race and Ethnicity,” by Kathryn Kost and Stanley Henshaw of the Guttmacher Institute. In 2008, the teen pregnancy rate was 67.8 pregnancies per 1,000 women aged 15–19, which means that about 7% of U.S. teens became pregnant that year. This rate represents a 42% decline from the peak in 1990 (116.9 per1,000). Similarly, the birthrate declined 35% between 1991 and 2008, from 61.8 to 40.2 births per 1,000 teens; the abortion rate declined 59% from its 1988 peak of 43.5 abortions per 1,000 teens to its 2008 level of 17.8 per 1,000.

Even with dramatic reductions in pregnancy, birth and abortion rates among all racial and ethnic groups, disparities between black, white and Hispanic teens persist. After peaking in the early 1990s, the teen pregnancy rate dropped by 37% among Hispanics, 48% among blacks and 50% among non-Hispanic whites; yet the rates among black and Hispanic teens remain 2–3 times as high as that of non-Hispanic white teens. There were also considerable disparities in birth and abortion rates. The birthrates in 2008 among black and Hispanic teens, as well as Hispanic teens’ abortion rate, were twice the rates among whites; the abortion rate for black teens was four times that of whites.

“The recent declines in teen pregnancy rates are great news.” says lead author Kathryn Kost. “However, the continued inequities among racial and ethnic minorities are cause for concern. It is time to redouble our efforts to ensure that all teens have access to the information and contraceptive services they need to prevent unwanted pregnancies.”

WASHINGTON -- Inspired by the backlash over the brief attempt by Susan G. Komen for the Cure to cut funding for Planned Parenthood, a group of senators Wednesday is launching a bid to organize 1 million people in support of women's rights.

Led by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), seven Democratic senators and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee are appealing to backers on all of their websites to sign on to \"One Million Strong For Women\" in hopes of harnessing the energy displayed in the backlash against Komen.

This guide provides a basic overview of the issues that face survivors who desire to speak publicly about their experiences with intimate partner violence. It provides guidance for the survivor speaker to maximize their physical and emotional safety and ensure the overall success of the speaking engagement.

The 2011 annual report highlights the gains, challenges and best practices for the abandonment of FGM/C and offers select indicators on progress in policy and advocacy, capacity building, partnerships and media coverage. FGM/C campaign highlights in 2011 included a West African fatwa against cutting, Guinea-Bissau’s criminalization of FGM/C and the high rate of abandonment in Senegal, where 760 communities declared an end to cutting and child/forced marriage.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, published in the journal Child Abuse and Neglect, 1,740 American children died from child abuse and 579,000 American children experienced nonfatal child abuse, costing the nation $124 billion, in 2008. Child abuse is defined as physical abuse, sexual abuse, psychological abuse and neglect cases. This CDC report highlights the high costs associated with mistreatment of children and calls for change across the nation.

On average, a confirmed nonfatal child abuse case will receive an estimated $210,012 during their lifetimes, covering health care costs, child welfare and other services. In comparison to other health conditions, child abuse costs more than the lifetime cost of stroke and Type 2 diabetes, which total $159,846 per person and $181,000-$253,000 per person, respectively.

To understand how child sexual abuse is covered in the media, the researchers selected a representative sample of U.S. news over a span of three years, then coded the content in detail. Results on the content, language, how the act was characterized, who\'s voices are presented, etc. are all presented. The conclusion includes recommendations for advocates and reporters.

SEATTLE -- State authorities can expect tough questions about whether more might have been done to protect a missing Utah woman\'s two children, who died along with their father after authorities say he ignited his home in an inferno Sunday.

Josh Powell was a person of interest in his wife\'s disappearance. Why was he allowed to meet with his sons at all? Why weren\'t more precautions taken, such as requiring that supervised visits be at a neutral site rather than at his home?

Yesterday, Susan G. Komen announced that they will stop supporting Planned Parenthood. In the past, they have given approx. $700,000 to Planned Parenthood, helping provide nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals at Planned Parenthood centers across the nation.

In the past five years, Planned Parenthood has provided more than 4 million clinical breast exams and 70,000 mammogram referrals, often helping low-income or uninsured women detect breast cancer in the earliest stages.

When I found out about this last night, I was outraged. I couldn\'t believe that the Susan G. Komen foundation would put politics ahead of women\'s lives. Luckily, I quickly learned from facebook and twitter that many others felt the same. Planned Parenthood and Komen were actually trending last night because there were so many people denouncing their actions. The Komen foundation\'s facebook page was also full of negative comments, although they seemed to be working overtime to delete them. I wrote a post telling them that their actions were shameful and that I wouldn\'t support them financially or attend any event sponsored by them until they re-fund Planned Parenthood. It received about 30 likes in the seconds before it was deleted.

Yesterday, Susan G. Komen announced that they will stop supporting Planned Parenthood. In the past, they have given approx. $700,000 to Planned Parenthood, helping provide nearly 170,000 clinical breast exams and 6,400 mammogram referrals at Planned Parenthood centers across the nation.

In the past five years, Planned Parenthood has provided more than 4 million clinical breast exams and 70,000 mammogram referrals, often helping low-income or uninsured women detect breast cancer in the earliest stages.

When I found out about this last night, I was outraged. I couldn\'t believe that the Susan G. Komen foundation would put politics ahead of women\'s lives. Luckily, I quickly learned from facebook and twitter that many others felt the same. Planned Parenthood and Komen were actually trending last night because there were so many people denouncing their actions. The Komen foundation\'s facebook page was also full of negative comments, although they seemed to be working overtime to delete them. I wrote a post telling them that their actions were shameful and that I wouldn\'t support them financially or attend any event sponsored by them until they re-fund Planned Parenthood. It received about 30 likes in the seconds before it was deleted.

Thinking Outside the Blockbuster: Women of Color Make Films for Real Women

By Melissa Robertson

For many American filmgoers it might sound unbelievable that only about 6% of all fiction filmmakers are women. However, to both professional and aspiring women filmmakers this is a well-known and all-too-well-experienced fact. And unfortunately, success rates vary. Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation, The Virgin Suicides), Mary Harron (American Psycho), and Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High) are just a few (often-unrecognized) women who have directed some of America’s most beloved classics. To be sure, their kind of success is rare. In 2009, Kathryn Bigelow won the Academy Award for Best Director for The Hurt Locker—80 years after the inception of that award.

Recognition of any woman in cinema is hard to come by. For women of color the outlook is even bleaker. The most recent example is Dee Rees’s Pariah, about a black lesbian teen growing up in Brooklyn. Though the film opened December 28 and already boasts an impressive 96% rating on RottenTomatoes.com, its theatrical release continues to be extremely limited. (For a more extensive look at this film, see Mecca Jamilah Sullivan’s article “Black Queer Gender and Pariah’s ‘Grand Swagger’.”) The only way to gain support, I think, is by raising awareness about these talented women and their films. I have reviewed four films—each having been written and directed by a woman of color.

Demonstrators demand that the disappearance of Cristina Siekavizza and her children be investigated.

GUATEMALA CITY, Jan 31, 2012 (IPS) - The relentless wave of femicides in Guatemala, which has one of the highest female murder rates in the world, has prompted actions by the government, civil society groups, and two Nobel Peace laureates to try to put a stop to this brutal violence against women, which has reached horrific proportions.

According to information from the Presidential Commission against Racism, 705 Guatemalan women lost their lives to gender-related violence in 2011, most of them by gunfire, up from 675 deaths the year before.

This alarming situation has spurred a range of reactions from both civil society and the government.

On Jan. 24, only days after his inauguration as president, right-wing retired general Otto Pérez Molina formed a \"task force to combat femicide\", which is the term used in Guatemala to denote gender- motivated killings. Women\'s organisations define femicide more precisely as the phenomenon whereby women are murdered because they are women.

This task force, created under the Interior Ministry, the body in charge of domestic security, will be headed by former Prosecutor Mirna Carrera and will focus on intelligence and investigative efforts with the aim of preventing more women from being murdered.

This report highlights the difficulties women and girls are faced with in accessing justice in cases of sexual violence, particularly incest.

Included in this report are a survey of incest cases in Pakistan, a summary of published legal opinions in incest cases, identification of obstacles to justice and a compilation of good practice examples from other countries that have addressed similar obstacles.

The authors hope this report will be used as a guide towards making the Pakistani judicial system more supportive of future victims which will have a deterrent effect on perpetrators.

On April 4th, 2011, the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter,” (DCL) which summarized schools’ responsibilities for addressing campus sexual violence under Title IX. The DCL offers uniformity and clarity on school’s duty to prevent and address sexual harassment and assault, and promises to improve student access to equal educational opportunities.

Certain aspects of the DCL have been highly criticized, particularly the provisions requiring a preponderance of evidence standard of proof when assessing the merits of a complaint, and equitable treatment for both victims and accused students. The sign-on letter below attempts to provide support for the DCL letter, specifically addressing those contentious issues. In addition, the letter summarizes provisions that specifically relate to athletics, and schools’ responsibility to act promptly. The letter also supports the Campus SaVE Act, which would codify certain provisions of the DCL.

We ask you join the Women’s Sports Foundation and the Association for Title IX Administrators (www.atixa.org) to sign the letter to the OCR before Thursday, February 2nd, 2012.

To sign on, please email me with your signature block and electronic signature. If you do not have an electronic signature, we will provide a cursive font.

Additionally, we encourage you to share this opportunity for sign-on with other organizations in your networks.

Since the 2010 elections, anti-abortionists have grown more emboldened in their attempts to restrict not only abortion services, but also to basic reproductive care.

African-American women have been especially targeted in a series of anti-abortion billboards posted across the country. Enraged by this finger-pointing, reproductive justice activist of all colors got together to fight for every woman’s right to health care. On this edition, the fight for access to reproductive health care.